UAE Says ‘War over’ for Emirati Troops in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said the “war is over” for its troops in Yemen after suffering heavy casualties in their clashes with the Arab country's Ansarullah movement fighters.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahyan carried the announcement on his official Twitter account, AP reported on Thursday.
He was quoting the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, who had given a speech saying the “war is over for our troops.”
An Arabic version of his comments was worded slightly differently than the English one, claiming the war is “practically” over.
The statement left open the likelihood that Emirati troops would remain in Yemen, where they operate in the southern province of Hadramawt and the port city of Aden. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gargash was also quoted as saying the UAE was “monitoring political arrangements” and “empowering Yemenis in liberated areas.”
The UAE, as part of the Saudi-led collation against Yemen, had been suffering heavy casualties in Yemen, where Ansarullah fighters and allied military units have been fighting back the Saudi-led invaders.
On Monday, an Emirati military helicopter crashed near the al-Buraiqeh coast of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, killing its two pilots.
On March 14, two Emirati pilots died when their Mirage fighter jet crashed due to a technical fault while conducting military operations for the Saudi-led military coalition in the same Yemeni district.
Last September, the UAE confirmed that at least 52 of its soldiers were killed when Ansarullah fighters and allied fighters from Popular Committees fired a barrage of missiles at Saudi-led foreign troopers in the central Ma’rib Province. At least 70 soldiers were also injured in the missile attack.
Meanwhile, there are reports that Jordanian military forces and advisers will be replacing UAE troops fighting in the Saudi war on Yemen.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Nearly 9,400 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.